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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847099">To Set the Stage</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellmandi86/pseuds/bellmandi86'>bellmandi86</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cracks in the Crown [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Homestuck</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M, Other</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-18 00:27:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>662</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24847099</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bellmandi86/pseuds/bellmandi86</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A Opening Statement and Disclaimer for the Series. This isn't really anything narrative imperative, but I would greatly appreciate you giving this a read over before proceeding.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Cracks in the Crown [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/952998</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>To Set the Stage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>The is an Open Letter to my Readers, both new and returning. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>     To begin, I want to apologize for the late disclaimer notes that I am publishing in relation to this story. I know this is probably coming far too late and may not do much to help things now, but my silence will just make me complicit if I don't address everything as I feel I need to. </p><p>     The following story, in its beta, was conceived in a thread on MxRP, and is being restructured and reformatted for readability and coherence here on AO3. Many people have had a hand in the creation of this narrative, but I have either had no luck in contacting these contributors or they do not have an AO3 account for me to find. That being said, if you are reading this and recognize that you were one of our co-authors, I do not want you to go without your accreditation. Please contact me on my Twitter or Tumblr, under the same username. </p><p>     With that considered, I thought over this story for a long time. There is a lot that is being reworked and added and removed. I had a lot of decisions to make on the scenes that were portrayed, more than enough of which are problematic (to say the least). The main purpose of me writing this disclaimer is for me to make a few things very clear about this story. </p><p> </p><p>1. I want to fully disclose that nothing in this story entails any underage sexual activity. All characters in this story have been aged up for the mature scenes and narrative that takes place. In the beginning of <em>Shackles, </em>Beta/Alternian characters are 9 Sweeps/19 Years Old and Alpha/Beforan characters are 10 Sweeps/22 Years Old. <em>Siren Songs</em> takes place 1 Sweep/~2 Years later. </p><p>2. This story has a main focus on traumatic and graphic events revolving around sexual assault and rape. This is not meant to be portrayed in a way that romanticizes or fetishizes these actions or behaviors. Reader's discretion is advised that this will not just be a focus for one or two scenes, but rather it will be the main horror arc of the entire story. Sexual assault and rape are no joke and I never want something I write to ever let my readers think otherwise. </p><p>
  <strong>If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual assault or rape, please do not hesitate to reach out for <a href="http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html">help and support</a>. </strong>
</p><p>3. Finally, this story will veer into themes of depression and suicide. This is also not meant to be portrayed in a romantic or intimate way. This won't be as present in the story as the second point, but it will be an underlying arc Eridan goes through. Depression and suicide are very serious and I don't ever want something I write to take such a topic so lightly. </p><p>
  <strong>If you or someone you know is battling depression or having suicidal thoughts, please do not hesitate to reach out for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suicide_crisis_lines">help and support</a>. </strong>
</p><p> </p><p>     If you do end up reading this and find something needs to be tailored differently or something is portrayed in an inappropriate light, Please do not hesitate to send me a private message on <a href="https://bellmandi86.tumblr.com">my Tumblr</a> or <a href="https://www.twitter.com/bellmandi86">my Twitter</a>. I want you to be heard and I want this to be a good story, but I would be lying if I said I haven't had to go back and rewrite a scene or two for things being written in a bad way or using distasteful language. I'll own up to my mistakes, 100%, but I acknowledge sometimes things slip through the cracks. </p><p> </p><p>     Homestuck and its characters were created by Andrew Hussie and is owned (?) by What Pumpkin and VIZ Media. Any additional characters inserted into the narrative are fan-created. Nonetheless, All rights are reserved to their respective characters. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Thank you, and with all of that said, I hope you enjoy. </em>
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